


did you know this is your family?

by memitims



Category: Shameless (US)
Genre: Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-14
Updated: 2014-07-14
Packaged: 2018-02-08 18:45:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1952070
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/memitims/pseuds/memitims
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>mickey finds some of ian's old baby pictures</p>
            </blockquote>





	did you know this is your family?

Mickey was laughing to himself when Ian got home, which was never a good sign. He was spread out on Gallagher living room couch, his head bent over the coffee table, smiling at a mess of picture frames. Ian groaned when he moved closer and realized what Mickey was looking at. 

"Are those my fucking baby pictures?"

Mickey jumped, startled, and a few of the frames went flying but didn't break, thankfully. 

"Well that was a stupid-ass idea," Mickey said, gruffly, turning to glare at Ian. "Sneaking up on a guy who carries a weapon on him at all times."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Ian returned. "I'm a big scary punk with a gun who kills things for a living, blah, blah, blah. Now why the fuck do you have my baby pictures?"

Mickey looked up, indignantly. "Mock me again, Gallagher, and I'll -"

"-Tell Debbie who really ate all her Reese's last Halloween," Ian finished. "Yes, I know the drill." Ian plopped down on the couch next to Mickey, pressing their shoulders together. "You gonna explain the pictures, or what? Don't you have actual productive things to do with your time?"

He grinned evilly at Ian. "Found these in a box behind the TV. Man, you were one weird-looking baby. Cute as hell, though."

"I was so chubby," Ian laughed. "And pale. Fiona said she was convinced I was an alien, and wanted to return me. Was probably just jealous that I got more attention" (Ian doesn't tell him how short that attention really lasted, how before he knew it, Fiona and Lip were the only ones that actually paid attention, the ones that took these pictures and put them in frames, because their parents couldn't be bothered to give a shit). 

"Well, I think you were adorable," Mickey said. "So shut the fuck up and accept it."

Ian didn't say anything back, but just rested his head against Mickey's shoulder. It had been a long day, and to come back home to Mickey, even when he was laughing at Ian's expense, was fucking amazing. 

"I've never seen pictures of myself as a baby," Mickey admitted, quietly, looking down at his lap. Ian's heart clenched, painfully. Sometimes he forgot that Mickey's childhood had been even more screwed up than his. It wasn't a contest, but still. Ian didn't think he could handle half the shit Mickey put up with.

"Oh," Ian said, simply, because sometimes Mickey made it hard to talk, like he wanted to tell Mickey everything, but also say the right thing, and to Ian, that meant something important. Ian settled on grabbing Mickey's hand from his lap, and pressing all the words he couldn't say into Mickey's palm. 

\---

Mandy was Ian's best friend. She just was. He told her plenty of weird shit, and vice versa, and their friendship just worked in a way Ian never had with anyone else. 

She still looked at him strangely when he asked.

"You want me to do what?"

"Find a baby picture of Mickey. Please? It's important."

She thought about it for a second, tapping her black tennis shoes against the hot pavement. "What'll you give me?"

"You have one?" Ian said, incredulous. 

"I'll see what I can do," Mandy answered. "What do I get in return?"

It was Ian's turn to think. He shuffled on his feet for a few moments, racking his brain for an idea.

"What about a box of those grape popsicles you like?" he asked.

"Fine."

\---

Ian went to the store and bought the most badass-looking photo album he could find. It was black, with little skulls on the cover, like a photo album for skeletons or some shit, and it was perfect. He knew Mickey would think it was fucking tacky (it was) and that was pretty much the whole point. 

The guy at the checkout gave him a weird look, but Ian ignored it, because there was no way his morbid photo album was the strangest thing anyone had ever bought here. 

He brought it home and waited for Mickey to leave for the Alibi, before going downstairs and freeing some of his baby pictures from their cheap plastic frames. Ian grabbed a few of Liam, Debbie, and Carl's pictures too, because Mickey only pretended to find them annoying. Ian saw right through his act (he'd never seen Mickey talk that much until he babysat Liam, never seen him ruffle anyone's hair fondly until Carl told him all the trouble he'd gotten into at school, never seen him laugh so hard until Debbie told him one of her jokes). 

He pulled out the picture Mandy got for him from his pocket (old and crumpled, but so obviously Mickey it was ridiculous), and a few of Yevgeny he'd taken and developed with a disposable camera of Lip's he'd found with a few shots left on it, and a couple of Mandy he'd swiped from her room. He spread them out on the couch. Ian began sliding the pictures into the album, filling as many of the pages as he could. He'd have to add more, as Yev got older, but for right now, it didn't matter that less than half the book was filled. The pictures he did have were the most important. 

This whole thing was probably stupid, but Ian wanted to do something for Mickey, something that would make him laugh and smile and remind him that he had a family, one he had made himself, one that loved him. 

\---

"Is this for real?" was the first thing Mickey said when Ian handed him the album. Ian knew he wasn't just asking about the book itself, but everything that came with it, everything it meant. 

He and Mickey were real. Their family, screwed up as it may be, was real. The way he felt about Mickey was real. 

Mickey ran his fingers over the picture of himself.

"Thanks," he said, quietly, and Ian threw an arm over his shoulder, pressing a quick kiss against his temple. 

"No problem."


End file.
